Vieques Biobay: A Bright Spot in a Bad Trip

This trip will go down on record as our most disastrous yet.  It has trumped the trauma of a car wreck and ant swarm in Costa Rica and Dan having to drive a stick in Ireland on windy mountain roads.  It has just been a mess.  I do have to give credit to our AMAZING airbnb rental owner for being super helpful!!!!  There are always bright spots and important lessons to learn even in the most miserable of travel experiences.  So one literal bright spot for this trip was making it to our bioluminescent bay tour on Vieques. 

This was one of the main reasons we were excited for Puerto Rico.  I’d seen numerous pins on Pinterest with these amazing pictures of people floating in the bay with the water glowing around them.  We just had to see for ourselves.  We had to book a tour and one night hotel stay on vieques because the small ferry to our rental place ended at 10:00p and we wouldn’t have made it back in time.  We were staying in Fajardo which is where the large ferries to Vieques and Culebra depart from.  The ferry terminal was a short walk from our small ferry dock.  The ferry was one of few things that ended up better than I expected it to on this trip.  I’d read horror stories about the lines and people missing the boat or getting bumped because residents get priority.  Since we were traveling on Tres Reyes Magos I wasn’t sure if that would make for more of a crowd or less.  (My girls by the way are delighted to have a new gift giving holiday to celebrate.) 

I was certain we’d end up missing the ferry and having to haul butt to the Ceiba airport for a flight.  The ferry cost us $12 roundtrip whereas a 10 minute flight would’ve been $240.  To try and be prepared I scoped out the ferry line two days ahead of time.  The Culebra line was around the block, but the Vieques line was maybe 20-30 people.  That gave me a little more confidence.  We ended up being able to get round trip tickets with plenty of time to spare. 

In Vieques we were able to catch a cab at the ferry dock and head to the Tradewinds Guesthouse.  People had recommended renting a car to explore the island, but by this point our sense of adventure was pretty much gone.  Instead we opted to walk along the beach by the hotel.  The girls were delighted that we found tons of sea glass.  I’d made the mistake before we left on this trip of mentioning that another pin I’d seen said Puerto Rico had lots of beaches with sea glass.  Later I realized the beach the pin referenced was clear on the west side of the island and that trip wasn’t happening.  Sun Bay satiated their need for glass hunting.  The beach was pretty gorgeous. 
After baking for a couple hours we fit in dinner (or maybe more like late lunch) and a nap.  Our night tour wasn’t until 9:00pm which may have well have been midnight in the world we live in.  We were close enough to walk to Abe’s Tour Company.  The streets were packed with people since it was a major Puerto Rican holiday.  We took the tour van to a parking lot where we got to check out some more of the wild horses.  They gave us our kayaking instructions and then loaded us back up for a ride on some bumpy roads to the beach. 

Dan took Gabby for fear Lottie wouldn’t put enough weight in the front of his boat.  I got Lottie, who’d fallen asleep on the second van ride.  Getting in the water was a little traumatic for me.  I have never been out on the water in pitch black darkness.  It is a little jarring especially when you are being rushed along.  I ended up whacking the pour man from the tour company in the head with my paddle.  He insisted it happens every night.  I am certain that’s a lie.  I then ran into the couple next to me, but since they had two people paddling I say that’s on them for not getting out of my way.  Once out of the crowded beach it was smooth sailing. 

It was incredible to be in ocean water at night with no moon, but a million stars.  And then we saw the glow in the water.  The pictures on line are deceptive because they kind of exaggerate the blue glow.  The actual sight is hard to describe and impossible to accurately photograph.  It’s like someone glitter bombed the ocean.  When the water splashes into the boat it’s as though diamonds are raining down.  You see blue streaks when fish swim through.  We kayaked out across the bay and then got “free time.”  Some people paddled around by the mangroves and saw sharks and larger fish.  We spent free time stuck together because one of our children who is not such a fan of the dark was even less a fan of being in a kayak in the ocean in the dark.  The mention of sharks didn’t help either.  Once we were on our way back she warmed up to the experience more and couldn’t stop touching the water to see the glowing droplets.  It was truly an amazing experience.

So we kind of improvised.  I was told a box of grass should be left out.  This was the box we had available. 

Lottie wrote a note.  She was dying to know how the camels and kings get from place to place.

Checking out what the three kings brought them.

The air conditioning was cranking on the ferry.

Warming up on the upper deck before the rain.

A view of our island rental from the ferry.

Hanging out at the beach on Vieques.

Sorting their sea glass.

Checking out the wild horses.  I thought horses weren't supposed to sit down. 

Posing in their life jackets.  Lottie was dying to blow that whistle.

This doesn't do any justice to the water.  All that movement was actually bright blue in the middle of black water. 

The child on the right was not feeling this experience :(

Glad they were smiling.  The weather was nicer on the return trip, but the ride was way bumpier.

Waiting for our shuttle to the bay. 

Spelunking in Camuy Caves and Cleaning Up Puke

There just seem to be a lot of hiccups in this trip (or in this case throw ups).  Over the weekend we’d planned to do both Guavate and the Camuy Caves.  Guavate had some slight detours but in general everything went ok.  Sunday in order to get to the caves we needed to be up and ready for the first ferry back to our car.  I’d read lots of places that the cave tours fill up quickly and once they’re full you are out of luck.  Since this was going to be quite a drive we wanted to make sure it didn’t end in disappointment.  We made everyone go to bed early with the intention of being up with the sun.

Sadly my kids apparently felt it necessary to remind me that travel with them is completely unpredictable and they are amazingly good at destroying even the best laid plans.  Both girls have been hacking up a lung since shortly after we arrived.  Gabby’s cough was so bad that she ended up throwing up in the middle of the night, which meant I had to be up stripping the bed and she had to sleep with us.  A few hours after that trauma Lottie was up crying about a bug bite, which meant she ended up sleeping with us.  They each took turns waking back up to reposition themselves in what became a very crowded bed.  We barely dragged our behinds out of bed when our alarms went off.  We were running a couple minutes late and missed the first ferry.  We finally go on the road and of course got a little lost once we got into San Juan.  Thanks to directions from a very nice security guard we got back on the right track.  We luckily managed to get to the caves by 900am, which was only a half hour later than we’d hoped for. 

We got our tickets and made the first trolley down into the entrance.  Sadly we all (including the girls) had to sit in a single seat by a stranger, which didn’t make the youngest child very happy.  After the trolley ride things improved greatly.  The cave was beautiful.  And what’s not to love about saying you went spelunking and saw guano?  Carmen Sandiego was the BEST!!!!! 

After the tour I thought it’d be cool to try and see the Arecibo Observatory, which is featured in some James Bond movie I’ve never seen.  As our luck on this trip would have it, we made the winding journey through the mountains only to find it is closed until March. Dan suggested I just walk up where there was a break in the fence.  Generally speaking I try not to break into government run facilities.  In my state of complete exhaustion I was pretty sure I couldn’t outrun even the least physically fit security guards, so I ignored that suggestion..  Just to make the most of our long drive I brilliantly suggested we stray a little from our path home to see the “historic lighthouse” further up in Arecibo.  A few wrong turns later we arrived and realized it looked more like a mini theme park than a historic site.  That was the point where I waved the white flag and begged to just go back.  I was really just dying to get home and wash puked on pillows and blankets, and start on bottle of rum number three for the week. 

Tasting spring water

Truly beautiful

Natural light coming in from the entrance.

Check out those stalactites, which Gabby called icicles.

Terrifying spider.

Jabba the Hutt rock formation.

Thankfully we all got to sit together on the tram ride back up.  I couldn't get a picture that showed the crazy ride up the windy road. 

Guavate Lechoneras

Since our trek to El Yunque we’ve been taking it easy because of the holiday.  We spent all of New Years Eve on our little island.  Sadly Dan was the only one able to make it till midnight.  When he tried as promised to wake the rest of us up for fireworks, we all begged to go back to sleep.  New Years Day we took another trip to Luquillo and the kioskos.  I think we’ve officially had our fill of all things fried. 

Our next BIG adventure was heading out to Guavate for the lechoneras.  We’d been warned that getting there early is essential for finding parking.  We naturally got a later start than expected.  We then made a grocery pit stop and got more than a little lost.  I think we were there about 2 hours after our planned time.  Luckily we still made it before noon and were able to park at the Los Pinos Lechonera which had come highly recommended.  This area is like a huge street party.  Pigs are roasting in every restaurant with a multitude of sides and beverages.  We tried a little of everything: pork, arroz con gandules, botata, blood sausage, regular sausage, cassava, cod salad, tres leche, and arroz con dulce.  It was pretty fabulous, although Puerto Rican blood sausage is not as good as black pudding.  The music was just starting and the parking lots were just getting packed when we finished eating.  We walked around in a downpour to check out the vendors and see what the other lechoneras were serving up.  By the time we left cars were lined up for spots.  We thankfully did a little better driving back with the exception of a minor detour for a flooded road.  Had the weather been a little better we could’ve walked around a lot longer watching the dancing and browsing. 

Checking out our surroundings.

This is one of three sunken boats by where we're staying.  It's a little disconcerting. 

Gabby is the butterfly whisperer.

Trying to make snowmen on the beach.

More fried food at Coral Seafood kiosko.  

Check out that pig!

Trying a little of everything.

Fascinating horse racing gambling game.  None of us could figure out how the winner is determined.

The streets were packed even with all the rain. 

El Yunque National Forrest

Thankfully day two went a little better than day one.  I guess technically this would be day three, but that’s too painful to think about.  We slept in and that was much needed, although it ruined our big plans to beat the crowds.  We threw some juice and donuts at the girls and packed up for the day.  Naturally we forgot things like ponchos and national park passport books, but at least we remembered the kids and sunscreen. 

Every time we want to go somewhere we need to take a ferry.  Funny that a person who doesn’t like water or boats would book a vacation rental on an island that requires a lot of time on both.  I also hate driving on mountain roads and that also seems to be part of every trip.  And then there’s bugs, which are a recurring theme:(

El Yunque National Forest was the closest must see activity so we headed there for the day.  The dark cloud we’d seen in the distance from the ferry was apparently sitting right over the forest.  We were a little sad about those missing ponchos once we got up the trail to a higher elevation.  More judgement of our parenting or lack there of was coming from the people who tried to make us take their towel to warm up our poor children who we dragged up the mountainside in the rain.  Clearly they were unaware that this is a standard vacation activity for us and it was far warmer here than most places we’ve made them hike in torrential downpour. 

El Yunque is beautiful.  We hiked up a small part of the El Yunque trail until it became more of a river in the down pour.  We then headed further up the road in our rental car and found the La Mina trail, which was recommended on many travel websites.  We made it to the falls before it started pouring.  I suggested we press on, but that was a losing battle.  We turned back and ran until we got stuck behind the slowest family in the world.  Dan finally pushed his way in front and passed them.  The girls were rewarded with postcards at the end.  

Since we were running behind schedule, we didn’t have time to go hang out at Luquillo beach, but we did make time for the Kioskos.  Bernardo, our AirBNB landlord had given us recommendations, and we went with Coral Seafood.  We basically ordered one of every fried item they had and a couple of virgin pina coladas.  Everyone found something they liked.  Vacation was redeemed!!!!

Pictures of signs are always a requirement. 

I was a little surprised you are actually allowed up in this thing.

They never seem to get that you have to put money in these to make them work.  And even when we waste the quarters they can't figure out how to see through them. 

A view from the top.

We forgot to count the steps, but the woman in front of us let us know there were 98.

Having a blast as always.

They said these were like the Ireland "caves"

This was the least crowded this trail was.

La Mina Falls was packed.

Hooray for a fried food reward at the kioskos!!!!

Grown-up capri suns as a reward!!!!